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Elizabeth Montalbano has been a professional journalist covering the telecommunications, technology and business sectors since 1998. Prior to her work at Design News, she has previously written news, features and opinion articles for Phone+, CRN (now ChannelWeb), the IDG News Service, Informationweek and CNNMoney, among other publications. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she also has lived and worked in Phoenix, Arizona; San Francisco and New York City. She currently resides in Lagos, Portugal. Elizabeth has a bachelor's degree in English/Communications from De Sales University and a master's degree from Arizona State University in creative writing.

Researchers at the University of Sydney are giving the booming Australian agricultural industry some help by developing two robots designed to help monitor crops and provide valuable information to farmers. Salah Sukkarieh, a professor of robotics and intelligent systems and a researcher at the...

Harnessing the power of the world's oceans is one of the new frontiers for designers of renewable-energy generators, and now a Japanese company may be poised to make a breakthrough with a floating wind turbine that also harvests energy from ocean currents. SKWID (Savonius Keel & Wind Turbine...

Vodafone UK has teamed up with researchers at the University of Southampton to develop denim shorts and a sleeping bag that can harvest energy from body heat to charge portable devices. The two items are made of thermoelectric energy-harvesting fabric that reacts with body heat and movement to...

Specialty Coating Systems has released its first Parylene coating with antimicrobrial properties, enabling it to protect people from E.coli and a number of other dangerous microorganisms when applied to medical devices, as well as helping to prevent the spread and contraction of hospital-associated...

We've already told you about researchers who are working with organic material found in trees to develop solar cells, but not for their energy-harvesting aspect. Now, researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA) have developed a way to interrupt plant photosynthesis so material from them can be...

Researchers are beginning to use more natural materials in battery designs in an effort to make them more organic and efficient. For example, a University of Maryland student team is using a wood base for a nanobattery that could be used one day to store solar and wind energy. These grad students,...

We've discussed 3D printed robots, prosthetic noses , and even running shoes . Now a joint development effort by Harvard University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and visiting South Korean researchers has produced a tiny 3D printed lithium-ion battery that could be used one day as...

The potential of harvesting thermal energy doesn't get nearly the attention that taking energy from wind and solar sources does. But that all could soon change with a grant awarded to a researcher at a UK university to pursue a method in harvesting energy from thermal sources that leverages...

A Segway-like robot has joined the list of devices developed to assist firefighters . Researchers at the University of California-San Diego designed the semi-autonomous Firefighting Robot (FFR) to map the interiors of residential and commercial buildings and take temperature readings to give...

Diabetes can be a life-threatening disease if not closely monitored, and finding out if you have it typically requires a series of blood tests and medical analysis. But what if someone could find out if they have the disease simply by taking a breathalyzer test? That's the promise of a new sensor...

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